Atkins decisions: More on Moore v TX (2018). ABA files brief on behalf of Moore - UPDATED 11-20-18 to include APA amicus brief

Interesting turn of events re: Moore v. Texas. ABA story here.

The AG’s motion can be found here. The ABA amicus brief can be found here.

The trail of prior documents and decision can be found starting here.

11-20-18 UPDATE.  I previously did not have a copy of the APA amicus brief. A copy is now available here.


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SCOTUS update: Moore v Texas - all amicus briefs and documents

Shout out to Guy McBride, John Willis, and Ron Dumont for reminding me that all relevant briefs and SCOTUS related documents for Moore v Texas are available at the SCOUTUS blog. I clearly had a brain spasm as I monitor the SCOUTUS blog regularly. Thanks guys.

 

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SCOTUS: Moore v Texas (2016) update - APA (and others) amicus brief

An update on the Moore v Texas (2016) case before SCOTUS. The American Psychological Association (and other mental health organizations) have filed an amicus brief that primarily challenges the Texas Briseno adaptive behavior factors. Click here to access the brief. I have yet to locate a copy of the AAIDD amicus brief.

 

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AAIDD/ARC SCOTUS 2015 amicus brief regarding Texas adaptive behavior issues (Briseno factors)

An amicus brief (click to access) has been filed with SCOTUS by AAIDD and ARC regarding a petition for writ of certiorari for a case in Texas (Lizcano).  Briefly, the amicus brief points out the problems with the Texas Briseno factors (click here for all prior Briseno related posts) in the evaluation of prong 2 of the Dx of ID (adaptive behavior).  The problems at issue address the most basic principles of scientific reliability and validity in the evaluation of the adaptive behavior prong of the ID definition

Hall v Florida SCOTUS transcript from today

Here is today's transcript for the oral arguements and questioning before the US Supreme Court (SCOTUS) re the Hall v Florida Atkins case. To someone who has worked his entire career in intelligence testing, it is very interesting to hear the justices talk about IQ, SEM, etc.

Amicus briefs from APA and AAIDD (and others) have been posted previously at this blog. Prior decisions regarding Hall v Florida are available in the blogroll under Atkins decisions

 

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Hall v Florida SCOTUS case: Amicus Briefs by APA and AAIDD

 

The Atkins case of Hall v Florida will be heard by SCOTUS shortly. Like most Atkins cases, the issues are complex. But the essence of the case is Florida's "bright line" test for the first ID Dx prong...which, based on the FLorida Cherry Court decision, is set at a firm IQ score of 70 with no recognition of the standard error of measurement (SEM).

Both APA and AAIDD have spearheaded two separate Amicus Briefs, which also include other organizations. The two briefs have now been posted in the brief sidebar of this blog. They can also be found at the links below.

APA led Amicus Brief

AAIDD led Amicus Brief

 

 

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Calling all attorneys involved in Atkins cases: Looking for oral argument transcripts, and other Atkins related documents for IDCP clearinghouse

A major function (and currently the primary function) of the ICDP blog is to be a clearinghouse on Atkins related decisions.  As indicated by the number of Court Decisions posted to date (n=67; with a backlog of at least 1/2 dozen more), the blog has been successful in this clearinghouse function.

However, it is often hard to determine what actually transpired during the oral arguments that resulted in a final decision.  I do not have access to legal databases (Lexis/Nexus) and have been fortunate to have a number of individuals (Kevin Foley in particular) who find and send me most all official documents I post.  However, even those who have access to these legal databases have difficulty securing copies of transcripts of the actual oral arguments behind decisions.  Thus, although I could end up regretting the decision to make this "all call" post (as I have trouble keeping up with the current flow of information being sent to ICDP), the purpose of this post is to request attorneys that work on these cases to forward any trial court related documents (esp. transcripts of oral arguments or links to PDF, MP3, or video's of the arguments; Amicus Briefs; psychological reports) to the blogmaster (iap@earthlink.net).

Obviously, this "all call" will only work if attorneys read this blog and notify others of its existence.  So...if you are an attorney who visits this blog with any regularity, please consider sending any of the documents described above (related to Atkins cases) and notify other attorneys  of the existence and purpose of the ICDP.

Thank you.  The success of this blog has hinged largely on a small group of dedicated professionals who send me copies of documents.  The continued success of the clearinghouse  function will depend on the contributions of others.  And, attorneys involved in Atkins cases have an open invitation to submit guest blog posts for possible posting.

Thank you.

Technorati Tags: psychology, educational psychology, school psychology, forensic psychology, court decisions, criminal psychology, criminal defense, Atkins cases, MR, ID, mental retardation, intellectual disability, death penalty, capital punishment, IQ, IQ scores, ABA, American Bar Association, ISIR, oral arguments

FYI: More reaction to Wood v Allen SCOTUS oral arguments plus military death penalty study

Further comments and reactions to SCOTUS Wood v Allen oral argument this week:

• From SLP blog - Amicus brief from 18 state AG's asking SCOTUS to limit intervention by federal courts causes controversy
• SCOTUS WIKI has added an "oral recap" of the SCOTUS oral arguments
  

Also, From the DPIC blog - disparate administration of military death penalty study

Technorati Tags: psychology, forensic psychology, criminal justic, criminal psychology, neuropsychology, school psychology, educational psychology, MR, mental retardation, intellectual disability, Atkins cases, SCOTUS, Wood v Allen, military death penalty

Supreme Court to hear Wood v Allen today (11-4-09): Atkins related case--inadequate MR defense

SCOTUS will hear arguments today in an Alabama capital punishment (Wood v Allen) case involving Atkins issues. The Wood challenge is based on the argument that his defense counsel failed to investigation and develop evidence for the penalty phase of his trial based on evidence of mental retardation.  A preview of the SCOTUS argument can be found at the ACSblog.  Additional information can be found at the SCOTUS WIKI.

Will provide updates as I can.

The ACLU filed an Amicus Brief in Wood v Allen (click here to view)



Technorati Tags: psychology, forensic psychology, criminal psychology, criminal justice, SCOTUS, Supreme Court, Wood v Allen, MR, Atkins case, mental retardation, intellectual disability, Alabama, ACLU, amicus brief, neuropsychology, educational psychology, school psychology, ACSblog

FYI. Juveniles, SCOTUS, and Roper Reasoning PLUS Law review article dealing with executing mentally incompetent

Two FYI (with no comment) tidbits.

Related to ICDP recent post on APA's Amicus briefs re: adolescent cognitive maturity and capital punishment, the ACS Blog has a guest post re: whether SCOTUS should apply the Roper Reasoning to juveniles life-without-parole cases.


The CrimProf Blog featured a law review article (link to article is with post) by Markel on Panetti, Retributive Theory, and the Eighth Amendment.  As briefly outlined at CrimProf:

Markel dan Dan Markel (Florida State University College of Law) has published a thoughtful and nuanced article in the Northwestern University Law Review, Executing Retributivism: Panetti and the Future of Eighth Amendment. He argues that the version of retributivism that led to the Court's limits on executing the mentally incompetent have far more extensive implications.

Technorati Tags: psychology, forensic psychology, school psychology, educatonal psychology, neuropsychology, criminal psychology, criminal justice, juvinels, life prison, death penalty, capital punishment, ABA, American Bar Associaton, APA, Roper Reasoning, mental incompetence, SCOTUS, MR, mental retardation, Atkins cases

Adolescent cognitive maturity and capital punishment: APA American Psychologist articles and amicus briefs

I had just started reading the latest issue of the American Psychologist with great interest, when Karen Franklin (In the News Blog) posted a nice summary of the featured article.  A central issue in the featured article, which also had some response counter-point articles, is what appears at face value to be APA's schizophrenic stance, as articulated in two different Amicus Briefs, re: whether adolescents have the cognitive maturity to make certain decisions (criminal behavior vs ability to make decision for an abortion).  As a result of eventual court decisions, juvinelle's can not be consider for capital punishment (death penalty).  The articles make for interesting reading re: the use of psychological research to inform judical thinking and decision-making.

The two different APA Amicus Briefs can be found at Psychology and the Law.  Roper v Simmons (2005) and Hodgson v Minnesota (1990).  A more recent APA Amicus Brief related to juvenile sentencing and the death penalty (Graham v Florida; Florida v Sullivan) is also of interest for capital punishment cases.  All APA Amicus Briefs can be reviewed by clicking here.

Technorati Tags: psychology, American Psychologist, APA, American Psychological Association, juveniles, adolescents, cognitive maturity, captial punishment, death penalty, abortion decisions, Amicus Briefs

Amicus Brief: AAIDD (Dufour v Florida, 2009)

I just posted a new Amicus Brief (see Amicus Brief section of blog; click here to go to brief)  filed by AAIDD in Dufour v Florida (2009).  The brief focuses primarily on the need to incorporate the Standard Error of Measurement (SEm) in establishing a range for intellectual disability determination and the need for objective measurement of adaptive behavior (and not to place undue emphasis on specific adaptive behavior strengths).  The brief aruges that Florida law is not consistent with the Atkins v Virginia SCOTUS decision.

I'm hoping to locate copies of decisions related to the Dufour case and post them when I can.

Technorati Tags: psychology, forensic psychology, ABA, American Bar Association, Florida Supreme Court, intelligence, IQ tests, IQ scores, SEM, standard error of measurement, Atkins, MR, intellectual disability, developmental disability, amicus brief, Atkins cases, death penalty, capital punishment, Dufour v Florida, neuropsychology, mental retardation, school psychology, educational psychology, clinical psychology, criminal justics, criminal psychology

Calling all Atkins MR death penalty Amicus Briefs

I just added another Amicus Brief, this one filed by AAIDD in the case of Briseno v Quarterman, to the Amicus Brief section of this blog.  I've also added specificity to the labeling of the other briefs by designating  who filed the brief.

If readers are aware of other Amicus Briefs that have been filed in Atkins MR death penalty cases, please forward to me.  In addition to building a library of Atkins MR death penalty decisions, I'd similarly like to build an accessible list of Amicus Briefs filed in such cases.

Thank you.

Technorati Tags: pscyhology, developmental disabilities, intellectual disabilities, mental retardation, MR, Atkins cases, death penalty, capitla punishment, Amicus Briefs, AAIDD

Two Atkins case Amicus Briefs (friends of the court) added

Added to the "Amicus Briefs" section of this blog today.

Brief of Amici Curiae American Association on Mental Retardation, The Arc of the United States, the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, The Arc of Georgia, and the Georgia Advocacy Office, in support of Petitioner, Stripling v. Head, No. 03-1392, cert. granted, Oct. 14, 2003 (co-counsel with Carol M. Suzuki, Norman Bay, Christian G. Fritz).

Brief of Amici Curiae American Association on Mental Retardation, The Arc, the Judge David L. Bazelon Center for Mental Health Law, American Academy of Psychiatry and the Law, and TASH, Tennard v. Dretke, No. 02-10038, cert. granted, Oct. 14, 2003 (consolidated for oral arguments with Smith v. Dretke, No. 02-11309) (co-counsel with Norman C. Bay, Michael B. Browde, Christian G. Fritz, April Land & Robert L. Schwartz, of counsel).

Technorati Tags: psychollogy, Atkins cases, SCOTUS, death penalty, capital punishment, court rules, mental retardation, MR